South Carolina Tried to Pass a Bill Jailing Women for Abortion. No Republican Voted Against It.

South Carolina legislators debated what would be the most stringent abortion law in the nation. Abortion was back in the news this week when South Carolina legislators debated what would be the most stringent abortion law in the nation. The bill would have banned abortion from the moment a pregnancy is “clinically diagnosable”—a term used to ensure the bill wouldn’t sweep in contraceptives or IVF. The law would have subjected women who have abortions to prison sentences of up to 30 years; criminalized the act of providing information about how to get an abortion, even in another state; allowed family members to sue women who had abortions; and eliminated exceptions for rape and incest. The second hearing on the bill was a coup for self-proclaimed anti-abortion abolitionists. The abolitionists argue that if the unborn really are rights-holding persons, then punishing women is both a constitutional imperative and a logical necessity. The bill’s stalling is a sign that abolitionists may seem to be on the back foot. But the story in South Carolina is more complex, and it focuses on the incremental mainstreaming of extreme anti-abortion positions. The state senator pushing the bill, Richard Cash, is a giant in the state’s anti-abortion movement.

South Carolina legislators debated what would be the most stringent abortion law in the nation. The bill would have banned abortion from the moment a pregnancy is “clinically diagnosable”—a term used to ensure the bill wouldn’t sweep in contraceptives or IVF. The law would have subjected women who have abortions to prison sentences of up to 30 years; criminalized the act of providing information about how to get an abortion, even in another state; allowed family members to sue women who had abortions; and eliminated exceptions for rape and incest. The second hearing on the bill was a coup for self-proclaimed anti-abortion abolitionists. The abolitionists argue that if the unborn really are rights-holding persons, then punishing women is both a constitutional imperative and a logical necessity. The bill’s stalling is a sign that abolitionists may seem to be on the back foot. But the story in South Carolina is more complex, and it focuses on the incremental mainstreaming of extreme anti-abortion positions. The state senator pushing the bill, Richard Cash, is a giant in the state’s anti-abortion movement.

Author’s summary: The piece traces the struggle over an extreme anti-abortion bill in South Carolina, highlighting its punitive provisions, back-and-forth momentum, and the central role of activist Richard Cash in advancing a mainstreaming of harsh anti-abortion measures.

Slate — 2025-11-21

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